A truck driver died Saturday morning after their truck rolled off a bridge in Ohio and exploded.
The driver was trying to merge onto northbound Interstate 271 when their tanker truck “lost control” and went over the bridge, according to a news release from the Summit County Sheriff’s Office.
After rolling off the bridge, the tanker landed back on the road below, State Route 8, and “caught fire,” according to the release.
The driver died from injuries sustained in the accident.
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Police responded to the scene of the tanker explosion around 9:15 a.m. Saturday, and the ramp connecting State Route 8 to the interstate was closed in both directions afterward, officials said.
A hazmat team and several fire departments also responded to the scene of the crash, which is being investigated by the Summit Metro Crash Team, according to the release.
After both the road and bridge were inspected for safety, the ramp and surrounding area reopened Sunday morning, local newspaper WJW reported in an article shared by the sheriff’s office.
However, the portion of the road where the truck landed and caught fire “will have to be repaved,” Ohio Department of Transportation spokesman Matt Bruning said in a statement to CNN on Saturday.
And while the department doesn’t have a timeline for re-paving, Bruning said they won’t be “reopening anything until we determine it’s safe for motorists.”
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The tanker was carrying 7,500 gallons of diesel when it crashed, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Bryant Somerville told CNN.
Officials also said some diesel from the truck leaked into a nearby creek and waterfall, Brandywine Falls, causing the creek to catch fire, the paper reported.
“The nearby Brandywine Creek was affected by diesel from the accident,” Somerville told CNN in a statement, adding that the creek “had a brief fire after the accident” but has now been extinguished.
The agency is taking measures to contain diesel and prevent its spread, he added.
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